Well my friend Jahla owns a pony called Punkin and we have decided Jahla and I are going to re train him if we can he is around 21 years old is that to old to retrain a horse?

He bucks and will not do any thing you ask him to do. Where do we start to re-train him? He is a lovely looking pony but just has a major additude problem. Advice is needed quickly. We are hoping to start re-training him on Monday.

Yes both of us understand it will take time and comitment but we are really comited to this! Please help.

Well my friend Jahla owns a pony called Punkin and we have decided Jahla and I are going to re train him if we can he is around 21 years old is that to old to retrain a horse?

no. not too old.

Quote:

He bucks and will not do any thing you ask him to do.

1. check tack. if the tack is pinching the withers or if he's sore from being overcinched, these are reasons for bucking.

2. check teeth. if his teeth have not been checked by a vet in over 1 year, sharp points and other teeth issues are reasons for a buck, too.

3. only after you can rule out tack and teeth, then you're ready to begin

Horses/ponies only buck for 1 reasons:Pain and/or rider error (lack of good communication through the seat/legs/reins)

Quote:

Where do we start to re-train him? He is a lovely looking pony but just has a major additude problem. Advice is needed quickly. We are hoping to start re-training him on Monday.

Quote:

Yes both of us understand it will take time and comitment but we are really comited to this! Please help.

Thanks,

If you're really committed, then I suggest getting some training material so you have it right there in front of you to check back with.
DVds and books are available from all kinds of trainers.
Clinton Anderson
John Lyons
etc...

Where to start? Ground work. Like he's an unbroke horse. Teach him to give to pressure (for example, you stand by his side and use the lead line to ask him to flex and then when he's not resisting at all and leaving his head to the side, you tell his hip to move away from you to get the back feet to cross as they move away from you. this can turn into steering and stopping when you move up to riding)

If he's spooky at all, do some desensitizing, too with all kinds of things that move and make noise. Be able to walk around him and wave and flap a plastic bag (work your way up to it). Be able to touch him all over with it, too (again, work your way up to it.)

Lots of approach and retreat.

Then when he's ready there's the under saddle work.

There's lots of stuff to it all, too much detail to write it in a post. That's why your best bet is to get some training material to follow. Nowadays there's lots of easy step by step stuff out there.

First I would make sure he is physically sound. I would have a vet check his teeth (senior horses often need more frequent dental care) and a chiropractor to check his back health. Make sure his feet are in good order as well. Put him on some joint supplements if needed.

Next I would make sure the saddle fits. Older horses often have some dip to their back, which can cause the saddle to bridge, creating painful pressure points. Make sure the saddle is well behind his shoulder, you have plenty of good padding, and there are no "loose" spots under the saddle.

Once all that checks out, I would start him over again. Pretend he is a baby and knows nothing. You need to gain his confidence on the ground before just jumping on his back! Work him on the lunge or in a round pen, doing changes of gait and direction until he's going well on voice commands. At his age, I would do only short lessons, 15-20 minutes max, as circles are hard on the joints.

Ditto on the health check, I would personally just go about it a different way. I would have a vet come out and assess his soundness. He should get a flexion test and just an overall health check. I suspect his bucking is from being sore with arthritis or another untreated degenerative joint disease. Also get his tack and teeth checked out. The next thing I would recommend is getting him on a very good quality joint supplement to prevent further joint degeneration, especially if he is in work, talk to your vet about what they suggest, personally I would go with monthly IM injections of Adequan. It would also not be a bad idea to get into the habit of coldhosing his legs after every ride to reduce inflammation. After that I would get him on a high-fat diet to maintain his weight. Feeding a moderate amount of beet pulp or a soy-bean hull based product along with free choice grass hay should maintain his weight, if not the re-evaluate. For an older horse, I would recommend staying away from high protien feeds.
For the fitness program, start with a lot of walk and allow his entire system to get fit before doing high impact stuff like troting, cantering and jumping. Try to work as much as possible in a large area where he wont have to make small turns, and avoid lunging. Once you can get him doing 45 minutes of walk without him getting tired or breathing too hard, then start adding small amounts of trot in. You need to work up his fitness very gradually in order to keep stress off of his joints.

Alright thanks for the help guys, Jahla is trying to get onto the horse dentist at the moment. I'll let you guys no how it goes. I think I have a video of me on Punkin BEFORE I found out about all his problems. Other wise I would have never got on him.

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